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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619382">pixel affection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/laehys/pseuds/laehys'>laehys</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Robots &amp; Androids, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Androids, Crushes, Fluff, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:40:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,995</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/laehys/pseuds/laehys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In a place where the line between humans, robots, and cyber enhancements was very thin and blurry, Renjun was as plain as a human could ever be.</p><p>And Jisung, an android, was totally infatuated with him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Huang Ren Jun/Park Jisung</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Challenge #3 — soulmates</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>pixel affection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ah yes 🤩</p><p>thank you to everyone who helped me with this baby 🥺🥺🥺 tori, val, mel, mash, bon and leo!! thank u for all the comments and suggestions!! &lt;33</p><p>and, ofc, my beta <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunbeamjd/profile">izzy</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/sunbeamhyuckiee">twt</a>) who was the sweetest and helped me a a lot!!! i can't ever thank you enough T____T &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Talk with him," Jaemin whispered, though his voice wasn't low at all. It was almost as if he was doing it on purpose and wanted to be heard by others. "Ask about it. Didn't you guys already go on some dates, though? I don't get why you're so worried."</p><p>From across the table, Chenle nodded his head vehemently, sipping from his cold coffee. "Yeah," he said simply, with the ease only a person who had met his soulmate already and had no debt under his name could have.</p><p>Jisung took a deep breath, twisting his hands around as he tried to get his point across, "But we aren't soulmates—" Jaemin sighed loudly, cutting Jisung off as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand. Chenle rolled his eyes, but he chose to drink from his coffee again instead of saying anything. Jisung was glad for that because he wasn't too keen on getting lectured again when his circuits were starting to overheat just from a quick glance at Renjun working on the other side of the counter. "What if he wants—what if he thinks that—what if he—"</p><p>His mind had already calculated all the possibilities, had done the math and went through all the logistics of every situation. He, technically, knew his chances and how it all could work out. But, still, it seemed like there was something innately human inside of him that made his mind keep running in circles over the same questions, wondering and wondering and wondering—</p><p>It didn't make sense. He knew that. And yet, Jisung found himself glued to his seat, hands clasped tight together around the cold porcelain full of jasmine tea that he wouldn't drink.</p><p>"Jisungie," Jaemin said, bringing him back to reality. Suddenly, his eardrums were filled with too much loud noise, too much stimulation going on around him, and Jisung lowered the volume he could hear and the brightness of his vision until he felt more comfortable. "Don't think too much about it. He likes you and that's pretty obvious. I mean... didn't you say he even kissed you on your cheek that time?"</p><p>Jisung could remember that clearly — there was no way he couldn't. It was recorded, saved, and encrypted in at least three different places inside his own code. If he could transfer the file to a physical object he'd have done that already just so he wouldn't risk losing it.</p><p>The shape of Renjun's lips and the warmth of them made Jisung feel like his systems were overheating, so he couldn't dwell too long on that subject. He hadn't heard about androids imploding in a long time — and he had no interest in being the first case now.</p><p>"Still," Jisung restarted, releasing the jasmine tea from his grip and rubbing his face with the palm of his hands. The more time he spent around them, the more human he felt; and more of those little quirks would end up slipping into his routine. Almost as if it was becoming ingrained into him. "Maybe he just wanted a quick distraction. I guess I should just... I don't know. Focus on other things. Yes. Let him live his life and find his own soulmate."</p><p>Chenle sighed deep and slammed one hand on the desk, catching their attention with his antics. "Hey. Don't say that. Look at him," he pointed at Jaemin, "he doesn't care about his soulmate nor does his partner—which, by the way, you still need to introduce to us. What the fuck, Jaemin, you aren't as slick as you think you are—"</p><p>Jisung tuned out the rest of Chenle's speech, excited about the fact he had momentarily been forgotten, Chenle’s focus turning instead on Jaemin who suddenly seemed to be very interested in the table's surface.</p><p>He knew about that. Some people didn't care about soulmates. Some cared a lot. Jisung didn't know where Renjun stood on this spectrum, but something was very clear — Jisung wasn't a human and he didn't have a soulmate. And that made him stressed because he <em>liked</em> Renjun, but what did that matter when destiny hadn't chosen them for each other?</p><p>"Shut up," Jaemin finally said, almost jumping over the table in his hurry to silence Chenle. "You'll meet them soon, I swear, I just—<em>Oh.</em>"</p><p>Whatever Jaemin was going to say dies in his throat and Jisung made an inquiring noise, but the only answer he got was a smirk making its way into Jaemin's face, eyes suddenly fixed on a spot over his shoulder, and Jisung <em>just knew.</em></p><p>He didn't have any time to prepare himself or his sensory receptors before Renjun passed by his side, holding an empty tray in his hand, quickly squeezing Jisung's shoulder. He sent a smile to all of the boys in the booth, already too familiar with all of them by now, but lowered his voice just enough for Jisung to hear: "I don't care about soulmates. Do you wanna go out later again?"</p><p>The thing is: some androids can blush. Some don't have all the parts or systems to allow that to happen. But Jisung can blush — his owners wanted the most realistic android they could have, with everything it entailed.</p><p>So, when Jisung heard that (because there was no way he could ever miss anything Renjun would say to him), Jisung could only release a squeaking noise that could be interpreted as a <em>"Yes"</em> as he stared at the retreating form of Renjun's back, feeling the heavy judging weight of his friend's gazes.</p><p>"You're so fucking red, dude," Chenle said, snorting right after.</p><p>Jisung was very well aware of that. There was a little bar on the corner of his vision alerting him that his senses were on overdrive and something was happening. Though Jisung didn't need that damned bar to remind him of that — he could feel the heat emanating from his face and the churn inside of his stomach, even though he hadn't eaten any human food to make him feel sick.</p><p>Not for the first time, Jisung wondered if, possibly, there was a defect in his code that made him feel like that. But then Renjun caught his eye from behind the counter, throwing him a wink before turning away, and Jisung could only slouch even more on his seat while seeing his heartbeat count increasing on the top right corner of his vision.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds after he left the coffee shop, Jisung received a text. It simply read: <em>"Missing you already! </em>😥 <em>Can we meet soon? I think we could try that stargazing thing you talked about last time! - Renjun</em>".</p><p>"Are you okay?" Jaemin asked when he saw how still Jisung had become.</p><p>Jisung tried to play it cool, to pretend nothing had happened, but it was obvious he was hiding something.</p><p>Chenle only pulled at the end of Jisung's sleeves, making him start walking again. "He's probably got something from Renjun... Only he can make Jisung become a mess like that."</p><p>Jisung couldn't even deny that. Never before had his systems gone so much into overload, warnings and little reminders popping up on the corner of his vision, a constant reminder of how fast the artificial heart inside of him was beating.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>He met Renjun a few days later, right at the entrance of the stargazing field. Renjun had arrived early and was sporting two gold coins in his hand, giving one to Jisung before he could even utter a greeting.</p><p>"My turn," he said smiling wide, the wind ruffling his hair. "Since you insisted on paying last time. Now come on, I got us the best spot."</p><p>There wasn't a good or bad spot. The field was designated in a way that, wherever you were, you got a good view of the sky and could look at all the stars — you could even choose which constellations you wanted to see if you paid more.</p><p>The gold coins told Jisung that Renjun did, indeed, pay more.</p><p>"You shouldn't’ve... It's okay..." Jisung tried to say, but Renjun only needed to send him a <em>look</em>, lifting one eyebrow, and Jisung shut himself up very quickly.</p><p>The walk to the place Renjun had chosen wasn't long, but Jisung felt like it could have taken an eternity to get there and he wouldn't complain — Renjun was holding his hand and Jisung didn't want to have to let it go when they arrived.</p><p>Still, Renjun did pull his hand back when they got close to a pretty neon pink tree dotted with small purple flowers, but he sent such a sweet, gentle smile before doing it that Jisung couldn't find in himself to be disappointed. The ghost of Renjun's touch still lingered upon his skin and Jisung unconsciously clenched his hand, craving the weight and touch of fingers between his.</p><p>It was something different. Something he never experienced before. And that seemed to happen a lot when Renjun was around him. He was sure he hadn't been programmed for all of that and yet — he blushed, he stuttered, he floundered around, he stumbled... he wasn't <em>perfect</em>.</p><p>An android was supposed to be a better version of a human; upgraded and with features that would bring it to another level. And Jisung had been good — almost perfect, really —, but it all seemed to vanish as soon as Renjun was into the picture. Jisung couldn't recall his codes or what protocols he was supposed to follow.</p><p>Renjun put a blanket over the fake grass, even though Jisung pointed out that it wouldn't stain his clothes or make them dirty, but Renjun waved his points off with a shake of his head, smiling while he said something about "aesthetics" and "make the mood". Jisung just let him do whatever he wanted to.</p><p>The artificial starry sky changed as soon as Renjun sat down and he exclaimed, pointing a finger in the direction of a constellation, "That's Aquarius! It's you!"</p><p>Jisung knew about Aquarius. His head was suddenly filled with information: <em>Aquarius. Zodiac constellation. Between Capricornus and Pisces. Abbreviated as Aqr. With a Right ascension of 20h 38m 19.1706s–23h 56m 23.5355s</em>—</p><p>"...right?" Renjun asked, turning his head to the side, the smile still on his face.</p><p>Jisung swallowed heavily. He didn't have a birthday so he could know his astrological sign, but the day he arrived at his owners was good enough. "Yes," he said. "And you're an Aries."</p><p>Renjun nodded his head. "You remember it," he said, slowly, voice a little softer. "We just talked briefly about it, but I memorized yours because I wanted to see if our charts were compatible."</p><p>"Of course I remember," Jisung replied. "You said you liked the stars so it was important to you. Even if..." he cut himself off, biting down on his lips. There he went again — talking before thinking... such an impulsive, <em>human</em> thing to do.</p><p>"Even if...?" Renjun prompted, arching one eyebrow. He never lost his smile and only looked up gently at Jisung. "I won't be mad by whatever you say, you know. You can talk freely around me."</p><p>"Even if it doesn't make much sense," Jisung ended up saying, "the stars and the chart thing."</p><p>That made Renjun laugh, for he threw his head back as his shoulders shook with mirth. "Yeah. I guess it wouldn't make much sense for someone like you, with a big and more intelligent brain that doesn't waste time with those things."</p><p>"It's not that—It's not that it's <em>bad...</em>" Jisung tried to say, stumbling into his words. He didn't want Renjun to think he thought low of something he liked or appreciated. It's just that... In his mind, filled with logic and math and lines of code, trying to put a person inside a box because of the <em>stars</em> seemed groundless.</p><p>"I get it, Jisungie," Renjun said, waving one hand. "It's just different. Different perspectives and beliefs and all. It's okay, I'm not bothered because you think like this."</p><p>Jisung bit his lower lip, looking down for a second. The little purple flowers emitted some light that helped in lighting up the ambient. They were reflected on the surface of the fake grass and in Renjun's eyes.</p><p>"Okay," Jisung breathed out, shoulders dropping. Renjun was staring at him, something in his gaze he couldn't make out what it was, but it made him feel jittery and like there was another sensory overload going on even though they weren't touching.</p><p>"You're shaking," Renjun said, a note of wonder in his voice. "Are you cold?"</p><p>He wasn't. He didn't get cold like humans did for he could control his body temperature, and still—</p><p>"No, I'm just..." Jisung trailed off, feeling too shy to continue talking. It felt too vulnerable to say that he was almost short-circuiting because Renjun was <em>right there</em> with him, looking at him with such pretty eyes and affection clearly written in them. Jisung didn't know if he was deserving of all of that.</p><p>"Just...?"</p><p>"Just..." It would be easy to say. Jisung had no reason to hesitate. And yet—yet the words didn't want to come out. <em>Again</em>, not perfect. Not like a reputable android should act. "Just you..." It came out like a whisper, a confession, something that Jisung wished could get lost in the wind and not be thought of again. He felt the heat emanating from his body, his sensors acting up and warnings popping up in his vision.</p><p>"Me?" Renjun asked, lips curled up in a pretty smile. His eyes shone with the light of the fake sky, the fake moon and stars, with the purple flowers. He looked beautiful and Jisung didn't want to look away even if he felt like he might overheat. "Do I make you feel like this?"</p><p>Renjun didn't look like he was after an answer, but Jisung still nodded, looking away from him for once and staring hard at the ground. Soon after, Renjun's breathy laugh echoed in his ears and Jisung once more ignored the warnings about increased heartbeats.</p><p>"I can't believe I made an android short-circuit," he commented. There was a teasing tone there, something jokingly, though he never lost the gentle lilt of his voice. "You're too good and too precious to be real, Jisungie..."</p><p>"Well—" Jisung started to say, lifting up his gaze.</p><p>But Renjun snorted a little, shaking his head. "You know what I <em>meant</em>." He stopped for a second, looking hard. "I really like you," he said. "I really like you a lot."</p><p>Jisung was going to implode. That was it. He <em>was</em> going to be the first case of imploded androids again, after a long time. There was no way that wasn't going to happen.</p><p>"W-well..." he tried to answer back, but his tongue suddenly felt too heavy in his mouth, his protocols didn't have an answer for him, and Jisung was going to malfunction soon if that kept going on. "Uhm... I'm glad... Same..."</p><p>"Same?" Renjun teased back, barely lifting one eyebrow. He was teasing him, and teasing him <em>bad</em>. Jisung was totally smitten.</p><p>"Hmm—" Jisung released a mixture of a humming sound and a squeaky noise. He was more than glad to be the source of Renjuns happiness and big smile, but there was a big question that still made him confused and wary. "W-what about your soulmate?" He blurted out. Immediately the smile vanished from Renjun's face and Jisung almost wished he'd never said anything. "I'm not a human so I don’t have one. Destiny chose yours already and—"</p><p>"You, who doesn’t believe in the stars, is talking about destiny," Renjun interrupted him, his voice still gentle. He lifted one hand and placed it over Jisung's own hand. "Some people don't believe in soulmates, some people say it's just an attraction thing, while others firmly believe in them. And, still, if destiny really had a hand in it, who said that robots and androids aren't included? If the universe carefully crafted and lined up everything, it would know that androids would exist. And they'd have their own soulmates too."</p><p>Jisung stared at Renjun, millions of possibilities running inside his head. If, hypothetically speaking, the universe was an entity who made it all happen, then it <em>could</em> be a possibility. Jisung was a practical and logical being; he thrived with numbers and real things, but Renjun almost made him want to be a believer instead, even if his code didn't allow him to be one.</p><p>"Well…"</p><p>The corner of Renjun's mouth curled up slightly as he spoke, "I like you. Isn't that enough? Maybe my soulmate is a random dude I'll meet in the grocery line. Maybe it's you. Maybe I don't have one. But I like <em>you</em>, and right now I'd like to do nothing more than just kiss you and make you forget about all the things that must be almost making your code crash."</p><p>Warning sensors spiked up again and Jisung squeaked, totally undignified. "<em>O-okay</em>—"</p><p>Renjun's hand was warm against his cheek and Jisung felt his entire body shaking slightly. An android should never act like that — but Jisung didn't know what he was anymore. He had lines of codes ingrained in his system, he had protocols to follow, but he also was prone to overthinking and he stumbled around and fumbled with his words.</p><p>He was created as an android, but Jisung felt lost between both worlds.</p><p>But nothing about that mattered when Renjun's lips were just as soft as his mind could remember. Jisung was glad he didn't need to breathe because he certainly would have forgotten about it as he tried to chase after Renjun's mouth.</p><p>And when they pulled apart, Renjun's eyes were still reflecting the purple flowers, still shining with the light of the stars. And all he knew is that if he was going to believe in something, he wanted to believe in this, in them, and whatever else they could build together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hope u guys enjoyed it!! &lt;3</p><p>come find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/pinkhrj">twt</a> | <a href="https://curiouscat.me/rensungie">ccat</a> &lt;3<br/></p></blockquote></div></div>
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